THOMASVILLE, Ga. – In a matchup between two of the top three teams in the nation, the Thomas Night Hawks secured a dramatic 20-19 comeback victory over the Keiser Seahawks, scoring 13 unanswered points in the final quarter to clinch the victory.
Both teams found themselves scoreless in the first quarter as Keiser quarterback Haylie Young threw threw an interception on the first drive to
Dyva Jones, however on the ensuing drive
Alexa Wilson's pass slipped through the hands of
Gisele Jones and into the hands of Ashlea Klam to stop the Night Hawk drive in its tracks. Thomas gave up only its second touchdown of the season following a Seahawk drive which started in Night Hawk territory from Wilson's third interception of the day.
On the next Thomas drive,
Keelin Coleman replaced Wilson at quarterback and she led orchestrated a long 66-yard drive capping it off with a pass to
Nakerra Brown for the touchdown and found Kierra Knight for the extra point to tie the game 7-7. Keiser responded on the ensuing drive, as Young found Klam for a huge gain to get in the redzone, then found Sophia Caprio for the touch to break the tie, going into the half with 13-7 lead.
The Night Hawk offense could not find any momentum as Keiser forced a turnover on downs in the first drive out of the locker room, the defense continued to keep the Seahawks at bay, but with 46 seconds remaining in the quarter Young found Klam again for the score to increase the lead to 12. On the extra point attempt, Brown came up clutch with an important pass breakup to keep the deficit at two touchdowns
Going into the final quarter, Thomas had to answer so Coleman brought the team down the field. Then stepping back to throw, she pitched the ball back to
Holly Neher who threw a deep pass to
Maddie Hougland making an incredible diving catch in the end zone to cut the lead to six. With momentum beginning to shift, the Seahawks had to burn clock. The Night Hawk defense rose to the occasion and forced a third and long. On a desparate pitchback play Janasia Wilson threw a deep pass, which
Gisele Jones climbed the ladder and picked off to give Thomas the possession with 4:29 to go.
The drive began quick as Coleman found
Destiny Lockett for six-yard gain, but back-to-back incomplete passes from Coleman and Neher had the Night Hawks staring at a third and long, Coleman stepped back and threw one up to Hougland who made another unbelievable catch to put the offense in the redzone with less than two minutes to go. Facing another third down, Coleman loaded up and fired a dart to
Gisele Jones for the game-tying touchdown. Needing an extra point to go up by one, Coleman under pressure threw it off her back foot to
Kiana Acol to take the lead with a minute to go.
The Seahawks began driving, making it to midfield with 27 seconds left. On third and one Young stepped back and launched one looking for Kennedy Foster, but
Gisele Jones came up big again with a key deflection to force fourth down, following a penalty against the Keiser sideline, it was fourth and long, Young went back and had to dump it off to Wilson who was forced out of bounds by Lockett to give Thomas back the ball. A kneel down by Coleman sealed the game for the Night Hawks as they completed the comeback.
Coleman went 19 for 29 for 214 yards and two touchdowns, Hougland ended with three catches for 85 yards and a touchdown and finally,
Dyva Jones finished with 13 pulls and an interception
Thomas will have a quick break before taking the field again in a conference contest against St. Thomas on Friday, March 28
th at 2:00PM
